So get involved in the workbench on TMP, I thought. Paint some miniatures up for Editor in Chief Bill, I thought. Be fun to write up an article on how I did it, I thought. What I didn't think was how on earth I was going to find time to paint the miniatures with all my other projects and commitments! And then the miniatures arrived! So option one was to send them back, apologise to Editor in Chief Bill, and refund the postage. Or I could make like a Spartan and get on with it against all the odds (see, I even do topical material ).

So, what did I get?

Well, Editor in Chief Bill sent me 12 Halfling Cavalry miniatures from Splintered Light's 15mm fantasy range. The cavalry mounts are actually dogs (bit like Irish wolfhounds), with two different poses. More poses would have been better, but I felt I could make the unit look different enough with the paint scheme.

The miniatures were fairly detailed, with only a bit of flash on the top of the bow and tip of the tail. But with most cavalry figures, the flash connecting the tail to the base is to be expected. The mould lines, however, were more of a problem. The line ran down the centre of the mount and rider. This proved a problem for the mount, because removal of the mould line would leave a bald spot on the fur detailing. But it was worse for the rider, since the mould line went down one side of the rider's face. This made it almost impossible to remove without ruining the face detail.

Because of this, I decided that I would just have to leave some of the mould lines in place, and try and disguise them with paint. You can see here the flash and detail of the miniature more clearly. The base for these miniatures was nice and robust, with the legs of the mount firmly attached (I hate flimsy-legged mounts bending while you're cleaning up the miniature).

As is my style, I undercoated the miiatures with white. I still use Games Workshop's white primer. It works for me, and I've not found anything better. I have also never mastered the art of undercoating miniatures with black - so white it is. I applied the primer in stages. I use a box lid like a tray for the miniatures and spray one side of the miniatures, let that dry, then spray the other side. Finally, when that is dry, I lay the miniatures down and spray the underside of the miniatures to make sure they are properly coated.

This picture shows the detail of the miniature better, but also highlights the mould line problem on the rider's face I mentioned previously. I'd love to know if anyone has a good technique for dealing with mould lines across detail like this, but as I mentioned, I decided to leave some of it in place.

It was at this point that I adopted my "Paint to wargame standard production line" technique...